Deis has privately asked Silva to stop pushing the half-cent sales tax initiative, the city manager says in a memo issued in advance of tonight's council meeting. The tax measure is not on the agenda, but it is certain to become a topic of discussion at City Hall.

"I'm sure it was written by well-intentioned people," Deis wrote. "But it would ensure the city never gets out of bankruptcy. It would devastate the city's general fund."

Silva is leading a coalition of local residents to put the tax increase before voters in a special election as soon as August, which would require two-thirds majority approval.

The initiative - if passed - would raise $15 million to $18 million annually, under Silva's estimate, toward making Stockton's streets safe by increasing the police force by more than 100 additional officers, Silva says.

But Deis says in his two-page memo circulated Friday among council members that Silva's effort is ill-timed, noting that the city is at a critical point in its bankruptcy.

Next week, the city's eligibility for Chapter 9 protection goes on trial. After that, the city has to write a plan of adjustment, restructuring its debt with creditors.

A move to raise the city's revenues amid bankruptcy is perilous, Deis says in the memo.

"I have shared this with the mayor, on multiple occasions, along with the request to suspend discussion of a restricted tax at this time," said Deis, also offering to have city staff give the council a full analysis of Silva's tax initiative.

Deis, who has read a draft of the measure and shared it with the council, also contends that the language obligates the city's ailing general fund by capping police officers' annual pay at $80,000, hardly enough.

Deis compared Silva's initiative to building a house on a crumbling foundation. First, the city has to bring stability to its finances and then begin rebuilding services, Deis said.

Silva said that's not so. In a prepared statement, the mayor said any new money would have nothing to do with bankruptcy. The taxes would go into a separately restricted fund dedicated to public safety.

It wouldn't interfere with the city's Chapter 9 proceedings, Silva said, because it would go on the ballot later this year after supporters gathered about 12,000 signatures.

In consecutive deficit years, the city has cut its police force by 25 percent, and Silva said that residents of Stockton have waited long enough for relief. The measure is being crafted to prevent misuse by city leaders, he said.

"No more city-funded restaurants; no more city-funded marinas," Silva said. "The people of Stockton deserve to feel safe, and it's absolutely the right thing to do."

Allen Sawyer, a Stockton-based political consultant working with Silva to craft the initiative, said Deis' argument that the tax measure interferes with bankruptcy is a red herring.

The city will emerge from its trial next week and the judge will find the city eligible for bankruptcy, he predicted, countering Deis.

"His memo is saying the world's flat," Sawyer said. "We're about to find out in a few days that the world is round. We're eligible, and this initiative has nothing to do with the bankruptcy."

Councilman Elbert Holman has read both Deis' memo and Silva's draft initiative. The councilman said he will take Deis up on his offer to provide a full analysis of the tax initiative.

Flooding the streets with police officers under Silva's plan isn't the answer to Stockton's chronic crime problems, said Holman, a proponent of Deis' Marshall Plan on crime.

The old method of "hook 'em and book 'em" hasn't solved Stockton's crime problem in the past, Holman said, subscribing to a deeper upheaval of the county's criminal justice system under the Marshall Plan as Deis proposes.

The council on April 2 is expected to have a full debriefing on the Marshall Plan and approaches to enacting it. Any discussion of raising taxes to hire police runs against the grain, said Holman, who is critical of Silva's initiative.